Discovery of a protein that protects against fatty liverA team co-headed by scientists at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine and the IDIBAPS Biomedical Research Institute (part of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona) has revealed the capacity of the CPEB4 protein to prevent fatty liver disease.

How solvents affect the skinResearchers at Lund University in Sweden have developed a method that makes it possible to see how individual molecules from solvents in skin creams, medicated ointments and cleaning products affect and interact with the skin's own molecules.

Bay Area methane emissions may be double what we thoughtEmissions of methane, a potent climate-warming gas, in the San Francisco Bay Area may be roughly twice as high as official estimates, with most of it coming from biological sources, such as landfills, but natural gas leakage also being an important source, according to a new study from Berkeley Lab.

Commercial interests may drown out patients' voicesResearchers from the University of Sydney and Bond University are urgently calling for greater independence and transparency around industry-sponsored patient advocacy groups, following a growing amount of evidence which raises questions over potential bias in their activities.

Community-acquired pneumonia can spread year-roundNew research indicates that community-acquired pneumonia should not be regarded as a seasonal disease, as it occurs throughout all seasons; however, the pathogens that cause the condition are clearly subject to seasonal variations.

Patients face 'surprise' medical bills from out-of-network specialistsThe average anesthesiologist, emergency physician, pathologist and radiologist charge more than four times what Medicare pays for similar services, often leaving privately insured consumers stuck with surprise medical bills that are much higher than they anticipated, new research in JAMA suggests.

QMUL and BH announce major new initiative in the Life SciencesQueen Mary University of London (QMUL) and Barts Health NHS Trust (BH) announce plans for a major new center for Life Sciences in Whitechapel, home to the Royal London Hospital and a campus of QMUL's Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Tigers could roam again in Central Asia, scientists sayCaspian tigers, some of the largest cats that ever lived -- up to 10 feet long and weighing more than 300 pounds -- roamed through much of Central Asia before they were designated as extinct in the middle of the 20th century.

Opioids produce analgesia via immune cellsOpioids are the most powerful painkillers. Researchers at the Charité -- Universitätsmedizin Berlin have now found that the analgesic effects of opioids are not exclusively mediated by opioid receptors in the brain, but can also be mediated via the activation of receptors in immune cells.

Delayed clamping prevents anemiaWhen clamping of the umbilical cord is delayed, iron deficiency up to six months of age can be prevented, according to a new study from Uppsala University, published in JAMA Pediatrics.

Discovery adds rock collecting to Neanderthal's repertoireAn international group that includes a University of Kansas researcher has discovered a brownish piece of split limestone in a site in Croatia that suggests Neanderthals 130,000 years ago collected the rock that stands out among all other items in the cave.

Researchers zero-in on cholesterol's role in cellsFor the first time, by using a path-breaking optical imaging technique to pinpoint cholesterol's location and movement within the cell membrane, chemists at the University of Illinois at Chicago have made the surprising finding that cholesterol is a signaling molecule that transmits messages across the cell membrane.

Successful antibody trial in HIV-infected individualsA research team led by investigators of the Rockefeller University in New York and Prof Florian Klein, University Hospital Cologne and German Center for Infection Research, has tested a new HIV neutralizing antibody, called 10-1074, in humans.

Nanotechnology: Lighting up ultrathin filmsBased on a study of the optical properties of novel ultrathin semiconductors, researchers of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich have developed a method for rapid and efficient characterization of these materials.

Feinstein Institute genetic discovery provides new insight into cognitive disordersAn international team of scientists, led by Todd Lencz, PhD, professor at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research at Northwell Health and Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, have unlocked some of the genes responsible for cognitive ability.The findings bring scientists a step closer to developing new -- and potentially better -- treatments for cognitive disorders of the brain, such as schizophrenia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Candidates for bionic hand reconstructionResearchers offer a treatment algorithm, or protocol, for identifying patients with global (flail arm) brachial plexus injuries who are likely to benefit from trading in their insensate and nonfunctional hand for a myoelectric prosthetic device.

The devil is in the detailsMedical University of South Carolina investigators report preclinical research showing that the tumor-promoting properties of neuropilin-2 reside predominantly on isoform NRP2b, while NRP2a has the opposite effects in non-small cell lung cancer, in the Jan.

NREL pioneers better way to make renewable hydrogenScientists at the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) developed a method which boosts the longevity of high-efficiency photocathodes in photoelectrochemical water-splitting devices.

Study reveals for first time that talking therapy changes the brain's wiringA new study from King's College London and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has shown for the first time that cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) strengthens specific connections in the brains of people with psychosis, and that these stronger connections are associated with long-term reduction in symptoms and recovery eight years later.

ALMA starts observing the sunNew images taken with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile have revealed otherwise invisible details of our sun, including a new view of the dark, contorted center of a sunspot that is nearly twice the diameter of the Earth.

Bee alert but not alarmedAn Australian-first national analysis of 13 years' data on bites and stings from venomous creatures reveals Australia's towns and cities are a hot-spot for encounters.

Retinopathy of prematurity: New developments are cause for hopeA mini-symposium published in the Journal of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) provides important insights into new techniques and treatments that show promise for eliminating retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) throughout the world.

Discovery could lead to jet engines that run hotter -- and cleanerResearchers here have made a discovery in materials science that sounds like something from the old Saturday morning cartoon Super Friends: they've found a way to deactivate 'nano twins' to improve the high-temperature properties of superalloys that are used in jet engines.

Study shows signs of hope for endangered sea turtlesBones from dead turtles washed up on Mexican beaches indicate that Baja California is critical to the survival of endangered North Pacific loggerhead sea turtles, which travel some 7,500 miles from their nesting sites in Japan to their feeding grounds off the coast of Mexico.

Rapamycin tones down the toxicity of HIV-1 reactivation strategiesThis week in the JCI, work performed in Robert Siliciano's lab at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine suggests that a strategy combining T cell activation with the immunosuppressive drug rapamycin could reactivate latent HIV-1 reservoirs without causing toxic side effects.

Microbiologists make big leap in developing 'green' electronicsMicrobiologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst report that they have discovered a new type of natural wire produced by bacteria that could greatly accelerate the researchers' goal of developing sustainable 'green' conducting materials for the electronics industry.

Report highlights national trends in heart disease treatmentsOver 93 percent of heart attack patients are receiving stents within the guideline-recommended threshold of 90 minutes after arriving at the hospital, with the median time to stenting only 59 minutes, according to a broad report on trends in heart disease care from the American College of Cardiology's National Cardiovascular Data Registry published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Largest Populus SNP dataset holds promise for biofuels, materials, metabolitesResearchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have released the largest-ever single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) dataset of genetic variations in poplar trees, information useful to plant scientists as well as researchers in the fields of biofuels, materials science, and secondary plant metabolism.

Best Science Podcasts 2019

SetbacksFailure can feel lonely and final. But can we learn from failure, even reframe it, to feel more like a temporary setback? This hour, TED speakers on changing a crushing defeat into a stepping stone. Guests include entrepreneur Leticia Gasca, psychology professor Alison Ledgerwood, astronomer Phil Plait, former professional athlete Charly Haversat, and UPS training manager Jon Bowers.

#524 The Human NetworkWhat does a network of humans look like and how does it work? How does information spread? How do decisions and opinions spread? What gets distorted as it moves through the network and why? This week we dig into the ins and outs of human networks with Matthew Jackson, Professor of Economics at Stanford University and author of the book "The Human Network: How Your Social Position Determines Your Power, Beliefs, and Behaviours".